Dedicated group of TVA archaeologists protects thousands of artifact sites

TVA oversees some 11,5000 archaeological sites across the country. Erin Pritchard, an archaeological specialist with TVA, says it is a constant challenge to deal with illegal excavating and looting of artifacts on these sites. (Video by J. Miles Cary/News Sentinel)

phtoos by J. MILES CARY/NEWS SENTINEL
Erin Pritchard, TVA archaeological specialist, examines an area next to the foundation of a former grist mill at Mossy Creek on Cherokee Lake on May 27. Low water levels have exposed the area.

Erin Pritchard, TVA archaeological specialist, examines an area near the foundation of a former grist mill at Mossy Creek on Cherokee Lake on Tuesday May 27, 2014. Low water levels have exposed the area.
(J. MILES CARY/NEWS SENTINEL)

A piece of pottery sits near the foundation of a former grist mill in the Mossy Creek area of Cherokee Lake.

J. MILES CARY/NEWS SENTINEL
Erin Pritchard, TVA archaeological specialist, looks over a map of the Mossy Creek area on Cherokee Lake, the site of a former grist mill, May 27.

Artifacts that were illegally removed from the area of a former grist mill at Mossy Creek on Cherokee Lake, May 27.

At the same time two years ago that TVA hosted a workshop for Native Americans on protecting artifacts, the federal utility also secured convictions against four Alabama men for disturbing Native American remains on TVA property.

Many people may not realize the scope of TVA activities when it comes to preserving artifacts on the land TVA manages. They may also not realize the penalties a person could face from taking arrowheads, bottles or other artifacts from TVA land.

"We (TVA) had about six convictions last year. The year before that it was about 12," said Erin Pritchard, Archaeological specialist with TVA.

TVA manages about 300,000 acres around its reservoirs in its seven-state service area.

"And on that land we have recorded over 11,500 archaeological sites," Pritchard said.

These include Native American villages and burial mounds, caves, rock art sites, Civil War sites, and former homesteads that TVA acquired when it built dams.

Excavating, removing or damaging an artifact on public land is a federal crime under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. Artifacts are human-made items including pottery, baskets, bottles, weapons, arrowheads, rock paintings and carvings, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Artifacts also include Native American human remains.

Many people visiting TVA lands and waters may not realize that it is a crime to remove or disturb these items, said TVA spokesman Travis Brickey.

"It's all right to take photographs and its fine to look at the sites, but you should leave things the way you found them," he said.

The problem is more acute this season, because a lack of rain has left many TVA lakes at lower-than-normal levels, exposing more shoreline — and more artifact sites — to hunters, Brickey said.

The Archaeological Resources act sets criminal penalties at up to a $10,000 fine and one year in prison on a first offense, and $100,000 and/or five years in prison for a second offense.

"Usually, the first offense, if it is a minor one, is a misdemeanor," Pritchard said. "The person is given a citation, goes to court and if convicted is given a fine. Second offense is an automatic felony, regardless of what they are doing."

In the Alabama case, which went before a judge in May 2012, each of four defendants pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of theft of Native American relics from the Guntersville Reservoir. Each was given one year's probation and more than $500 in fines and penalties.

"You are not going to do time for 10 years for picking up an arrowhead, but people need to be aware this is a crime," Pritchard said.

In addition to pursuing criminal charges, TVA also does outreach programs with groups interested in protecting cultural resources on TVA lands. At the same time as the Alabama court case, TVA hosted a workshop in Chattanooga in which members of 10 federally recognized tribes and TVA officials consulted on proper identification and care of Native American remains on TVA properties.

Federal law requires TVA to protect such assets and that is the job of the utility's Cultural Resources staff. This includes six full time archaeologists, said Pritchard, who is in charge of the staff. Their duties include archaeological survey work for permits when TVA needs to do a project or when someone wants to install a dock, boat ramp or any structure on a shoreline managed by TVA.

Tyler Howe, tribal historic preservation specialist with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, said his staff works closely with TVA archaeologists on sites involving Native American artifacts and burial locations. When TVA is drawing down a lake, doing a shoreline stabilization project, setting utility poles, reviewing permits for boat ramps and docks, it contacts his office before work proceeds, Howe said.

"We consult with them on behalf of the tribe and are mostly concerned with the cultural resources of the Cherokee people," he said.

The first thing is to determine if a site meets standards of the National Register of Historic Places, Howe said. If the site is connected with an important person or significant event, it might meet these standards and would be entitled to protections from actions involving federal agencies such as TVA. Howe said there are very few sites on TVA land that meet that level of significance.

"Ross Landing in Chattanooga and Blount Mansion in Knoxville are two. These are very important to Cherokee history and to the establishment of Tennessee," he said.

Besides the loss of artifacts, disturbing an archaeological site may destroy information the site can yield, Pritchard said.

On a recent visit to the Mossy Creek area off Cherokee Lake in Jefferson County, she pointed out some of the damage that people do. Pritchard climbed over a collapsed wall that was part of a water mill that existed before TVA built Cherokee Dam and flooded the area in the 1940s. She found parts of a hammer that someone apparently broke in half while using it to chip away parts of the foundation.

There were chips of concrete and brick scattered around and pieces of pottery on the ground and in the stream. The hammer head lay with a small pile of ceramic pieces and bits of metal — apparently things the excavator decided weren't worth taking.

"By taking some pieces away and leaving others here, they are taking away parts of the puzzle needed to understand this site," she said.

Some people loot sites to make money, Pritchard said. Some arrowheads, bottles and other artifacts can bring thousands of dollars.

These people usually know what they are doing is against the law, Pritchard said. TVA has found people with things like fishing rods modified to serve as digging or prying tools, she said.

"You see people with garden tools all the time," Pritchard said.

Some excavation incidents are simply vandalism, she said.

"There was a cave in North Alabama that had burials in it. We gated it for protection, but somebody spent a fairly large amount of time — probably a week — digging into the cave," she said. "They got in and damaged seven burials, some of them infant burials. We couldn't even find any evidence where they had screened the dirt to get artifacts. It was almost like a pure act of vandalism."

Vandalism is a significant problem. At one site, people had scrawled graffiti over Native American rock drawings.

"All the graffiti has made it impossible for an archaeologist to interpret what is going on here," Pritchard said.

Visitors disturbing archaeological sites has increased a bit in recent years, she said.

"We are not sure why," she said. "It could be because of the economy. We have a lot of problems from people who use meth. Some of these artifacts can bring in thousands of dollars, so somebody might spend a whole day digging up a site and do a whole lot of damage just to get one piece."

Howe said given TVA's small staff of archaeologists and the large amount of land and shoreline under its responsibility, TVA does a good job identifying and protecting artifact sites.

To report someone digging on TVA land call TVA Police at 855-476-2489.